So many experts continue to welcome Sen. Joe manchinJoe ManchinOn The Money – Democrats Seek To Cut Build Back Better Democrats Seek To Cut Biden Bill To Pass It Thanks to Manchin, BBB’s housing provisions are dead – and should stay that way MORE (DW.Va.) wrong.
While the debate on President Biden
Joe BidenUnited and Delta cancel more than 200 flights on Christmas Eve amid omicron surge Task force reunites 100 children with separated families under Trump Suspect accused of hijacking Democratic congresswoman in Philadelphia MOREBuild Back Better (BBB) legislation has dragged on, most want to drag Manchin’s name through the mud. They can’t understand why he won’t just line up with other Democrats and vote for the bill, so they make up all kinds of dark motivations to explain his behavior.
But it’s easy to understand Joe Manchin if you’re careful.
He believes America is a compassionate country and that the federal government should help and reach out to those in need.
He thinks our country should pay for the things we need and not pass the bill on to our children or grandchildren.
He believes elected officials should be honest and transparent about what we are doing and why.
He believes Democrats and Republicans should exhaust their efforts to work together on an issue and only resort to partisan bills as a last resort.
Senator Manchin has said a lot of this publicly for months, although many do not seem to be listening.
Senator Manchin reminds me of another leader with the same initials, the late Sen. John mccain
John Sidney McCainThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Uber – Senate Debt Limit Drama Ends; Trump’s legal problems increase What we can learn from Bob Dole Biden names Meg Whitman ambassador to Kenya MORE (R-Arizona). The difference is that while Senator McCain has often been touted by the media for his nonconformist leanings – not least for his refusal to support Republicans’ partisan efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017 – Joe Manchin is vilified.
But the American public should be grateful to Senator Manchin. The people he represents in West Virginia are certainly, according to the latest polls.
Since the start of the BBB debate, Senator Manchin has made it clear that he wants many of the provisions of this bill to become law. But he’s not going to violate his beliefs or advance on someone else’s artificial timeline.
Now, as Senator Manchin strives to make Build Back Better – better – I clearly see him being guided by the same core beliefs that I have recognized since the time I met him.
He wants a fiscally responsible bill. And he fears the House bill – which supporters say costs $ 1.75 trillion and is “fully paid” – is not responsible because it is based on 10 years of new tax revenue. to finance 18 large different programs, many of which are temporary, and some, like the child tax credit, for as little as a year.
But everyone in Washington knows these programs aren’t meant to be temporary. And we come learned from the Congressional Budget Office that if all of these programs were made permanent, the BBB would cost more than $ 4 trillion over 10 years and add $ 3 trillion to the federal deficit.
Republicans of course used these same accounting tricks when they passed their partisan tax cut bill in 2018. They returned some of their tax cuts – most of the benefits going to the wealthy who don’t. didn’t need them – temporary to make them seem cheaper.
It wasn’t fair then. It’s not now.
Senator Manchin also fears that Washington is spending too much and too quickly and could fuel the inflation that eats away at the paycheques and the savings of so many workers. This concern is well founded. The consumer price index is now up 6.8% since last year, the highest reading in nearly 40 years. And the Federal Reserve is worried enough about the high prices it just signaled it might raise short-term interest rate up to three times in 2022.
Even with his reservations about the current BBB, Senator Manchin does not move away because he would like to see several provisions adopted, some of which, such as the child tax credit, would probably result in bipartite support too much. And Senator Manchin is not going away because that is just not how he is built. If not for Senator Manchin, the two biggest bipartisan achievements of the past year – the $ 900 billion COVID-19 relief Invoice as of December 2020 and the landmark infrastructure bill President Biden just passed would not have happened. These two bills appeared to die multiple times to be revived because Senator Manchin and other like-minded House and Senate members from both parties remained at the table.
At the BBB, Senator Manchin does what he thinks is best for America and stands up for what he believes in. And I am proud to be by his side.
Nancy Jacobson is the CEO and founder of No Labels.
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